Farmers Movement Archive

Maharashtra’s co-op movement will not be affected by new ministry: Sharad Pawar

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president, Sharad Pawar, has rejected the idea of any adverse impact on Maharashtra’s cooperative sector after the Centre formed a new cabinet portfolio, the ministry of cooperation, headed by Amit Shah. Speaking to reporters at Baramati on Sunday, Pawar refuted reports which claimed that the newly-formed ministry of cooperation may “hijack the cooperative movement” in Maharashtra. The NCP chief said that while the concept is not new, forming a ministry at the Centre cannot interfere with the cooperative sector in Maharashtra, which has a strong network of such institutions, with politicians from the Congress and NCP relying on these networks to retain their clout. “As per the Constitution, cooperative institutions registered in a state come under the (jurisdiction of that respective) state,” Pawar said, days after leaders from Congress and NCP were suspicious of the move. Earlier last week, deputy chief minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar had said, “The intention of the Central government is yet to be clear, but they may have something in their minds. It will be known only after the new legislations are introduced for the sector, just like the three contentious farm laws over which farmers are now protesting for the past eight months.” According to Pawar senior, the Centre’s newly-formed ministry is about multi-state cooperative institutions. “A state cannot control a cooperative institution registered in more than one state, which is called multi-state, and the central government has control over it,” said Pawar, whose party shares power with the Shiv Sena and Congress in Maharashtra. The cooperative sector has been a catalyst in the economic development of western Maharashtra with senior politicians controlling sugar and milk cooperatives. As the sugarcane growers and milk producers are part of these institutions as shareholders, politicians have used them as base to enhance interests. Pawar said taking a decision on such a multi-state cooperative institution comes under the central government’s cooperation department. “This is not a new decision as such. It was there when I was in the central government. But, unfortunately, the media is painting a different picture that the Centre’s ministry of cooperation may hijack or end the cooperative movement in Maharashtra,” he said. The new ministry for cooperation earlier was a small department in the ministry of agriculture and farmers elfare. Union minister Amit Shah, who has been given charge of the newly-created ministry, on Saturday said that the government is determined to make cooperatives and all cooperative institutions more empowered. To a query on the Uniform Civil Code, Pawar said, “I can’t comment on it till the central government takes a decision. We are waiting for the central government’s take on it. Once they clear it, only then we can say something.”

Hindustan Times

12-07-2021

Pune